By destiny, luck or fate, I live in a Toronto neighbourhood that has a high percentage of Chinese families. I have often wondered, like many families, if by neighbourhood is safe, relative to other Toronto neighbourhoods. As well, if a friend from China was about to migrate to Toronto and wanted to live in a safe Chinese neighbourhood, where would I recommend? This blog post tries to answer these questions.
Regret is how I feel about not posting these earlier. Still, life goes on and so I go. All these events have been memorable, and at each one I learn more as I continue on my way, either through technique, talking to people, or myself. Overall, it is 3 x win. Clovent clovents
One of the many benefits of having kids is that you get to reexamine many aspects of life you easily take for granted. Because of the low level of driving skill and sometimes reckless attitude of local drivers, teaching my Little Weeds to safely cross the street terrified me. In our sleepy suburban neighbourhood in Scarborough, Ontario, it is not too bad, but when it comes to major intersections the concequences for a miscalculation are dire. No matter how well you teach your kids, they also rely on drivers to keep them safe. Here in Scarborough we have terrible drivers. Teaching my kids how to safely cross traffic intersections has been long in the making, Here is what I tell them.
You need to get along with your neighbours, but sometimes you must simply say “No”. Such is the case of The Town of Markham and the Morningside Extension. Markham is Toronto’s neighbour to the north east, and has a ballooning population of single family homes. Unsurprisingly these families want to commute into Toronto, where they have jobs. Unfortunately the existing north-south roads from Markham, through Scarborough, a suburb of Toronto, to Toronto’s Highway 401 are already at capacity and overflowing. The solution proposed by Markham is to build a new North-south road, through Scarborough, to Highway 401. Between Markham and Highway 401 lies the Rouge Valley, a large protected area of land soon destined to become a national park.
Scarborough, Toronto, Canada bylaw investigation and enforcement can be reached at:
Scarborough Civic Centre
150 Borough Drive
Toronto, ON M1P 4N7
Hours of Operation: 8:30 – 4:30
Information Line: 416-396-7071 Fax: 416-396-5650
Bill Blakes, Manager
Tel.: 416-396-8221
E-mail: bblakes@toronto.ca
I tried calling Bill Blakes, but he does not answer nor pick up his calls. The Information Line took my complaint and said they would dispatch an investigator. Note that it can take up to 70 hrs for an investigator to arrive, but they do eventually arrive.
Bicycle riding prohibited in certain parks in Toronto. The bylaw 319-69 was repealed in 1997.
Sometimes finding certain information on the internet is much more difficult than it should be. I was looking for the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada bylaw that allows bicycles with less than 24″ tires to ride on the sidewalk. I could not find it. I emailed the city clerk about the bylaw but got no response. This bylaw is heavily mentioned but almost never referenced. After about two years of searching the web, I finally found it.
There is nothing that gets Canadians together like Canada Day celebrations. I attended and participated in Canada Day celebrations at Thompson Park, Scarborough, Ontario. There was something for everyone. As to be expected the racial mix was all over the map, or globe. Still, the expression “Happy Canada Day” pulled everyone together. It really was an amazing feeling.
Canada Day is held every year on July 01. There are outdoor events at most large parks as well as fireworks at various locations in Toronto. Some years I feel lazy and do not attend, but really this is my family’s loss.
This will be the third year my Little Weed will be attending the Boys 2 Men Institute Summer Sports Camp, here in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Overall the camp has been very well run and my Little Weed has had loads of fun. While the last 2 years the camp was held at Stephen Leacock Collegiate, this year the camp was moved to L’Amoreaux Collegiate Institute, which is still close to our house. The worst part of this camp has always been the first day, when the kids need to be registered. Happily, today’s registration for the 2011 camp was relatively painless. Three cheers for the organizer, Hugh Keane.
Tree branches cut by a Mainland Chinese neighbour. These cannot easily fit into my fireplace. Toronto, Canada
Random events pummel our life on a regular basis. This is also true here in Toronto, Canada. My fireplace is used somewhat frequently during the colder months, so I am always on the hunt for firewood. We have many Mainland Chinese people here in Scarborough that throw out burnable wood, mostly from trees on their property. It is an odd experience to me to see cut up tree branches from these Chinese houses, as most of the wood is not able to easily fit in my fireplace. This is markedly different from firewood left curbside of Canadian houses. I postulate that those Mainland Chinese that migrate to Canada are intellectuals and university graduates, and that they have no experience in making a fire or preparing wood to be burned in a fireplace or stove. Canada only welcomes educated and affluent Mainland Chinese to our shores. Maybe wood cutting should also be part of the entry criteria.
How to avoid getting killed by a car, especially a left turning car at a signalized intersection, is a frequent topic of discussion on motorcycle forums and blogs. For a long time smart motorcyclists have been looking for the cause and solution to this deadly dilemma, in the hopes of reducing or eliminating the threat. First-hand documented accounts of crashes are dissected with a forensic zeal. Possible causes and contributing factors are suggested. Motorcyclists always leave the discussion with an uneasiness and queasiness in the gut: Often the cause of the crash, a car driver, is beyond the rider’s control. In this case an automotive writer riding his motorcycle gets into a head-on crash with a left-turning young lady, who says the typical cop-out excuse: “I did not see him”.
